What was the global demand for gold last year

Official gold holdings with the world's central banks recorded an increase of 25%. The main buyers of the period were Russia, Turkey and Kazakhstan. Central banks around the world added 111 tons to their gold holdings in the third quarter alone.

At the same time, global demand for gold jewelry in the third quarter slowed down by 3%, mainly due to a 25% drop in demand for jewelry in Indian gold jewelry. Severe restrictions on the purchase of gold, combined with the tax burden, have led to a significant reduction in the purchase of gold by the rural population in the country. Indian demand was 114.9 tons in the third quarter of 2017, up from 152.7 tons in the third quarter of last year.

On the other hand, demand for gold jewelry in China rose to 159.3 tonnes, reporting a 13% year-on-year increase, mainly driven by robust buying during the holidays and holidays. Demand for the rest of Asia remained weak. Malaysia and Japan reported lower demand, while Vietnamese demand rose 14% from the previous year.

Among other regions, Turkey reported an increase in jewelry consumption. During the quarter, demand in the Middle East fell 4%. The spike in demand in Iran has been offset by significant declines in demand in other large consuming countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. U.S. demand skyrocketed to 26.9 tonnes, the highest demand since 2012. European demand fell 5% to 4.6 tons. Demand for the UK fell while demand in other markets remained stable.